


that was then; he is now

by villiageidiot



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-23
Updated: 2011-01-23
Packaged: 2017-12-06 05:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/732006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/villiageidiot/pseuds/villiageidiot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now that there's Blaine, everything's different.</p>
            </blockquote>





	that was then; he is now

__  
**There used to be nothing in common…**  


_"Don't you get it? It's not just them. We live in Ohio, not New York or San Francisco or some other city where people eat vegetables that aren't fried. I don't understand why you always need to make such a big spectacle of yourself. Why can't you just work harder at blending in?"_

_"I'm sure that would be easier for you."_

_"You know, it would."_

That was then; this is now:

Finn Hudson likes to think that there are a lot of good things about the guy he's trying to be. He's a good athlete, sure, and he's got a pretty decent voice. But there are other things, too. Like, he tries to be a good listener and he got really good grades in Biology this year. Plus, he usually _owns_ at board games, Monopoly included, even though he doesn't brag about that too much.

He really likes to think that he's a good boyfriend, too, and surrounded by the people that he's surrounded by, it's really not that hard to be the best boyfriend that he knows. Mike's pretty decent but most of the time, he just lets Tina do whatever she wants and Finn's pretty sure that's not the best idea. Artie's okay and he always manages to score girls somehow but he says stupid stuff like, _all the time_ , and his girlfriend always ends up mad at him until he sings to her. Sam, well Sam's kind of a tool and even if he means well, they're in _high school_ and he takes things a little too far a little too fast, which seems to freak the girls out. And Puck, well, that doesn't really need a comparison.

So yeah, he's not perfect and he and Rachel have their share of problems but they're the power couple and Rachel's right; it's a lot of _pressure._

He and Rachel have only been back together for three weeks when Kurt transfers back to McKinley. He doesn't seem too happy but he doesn't seem really sad, either. Finn guesses it's because he missed his glee club while he was gone for so long but now he's going to end up missing his boyfriend. At least he thinks Blaine is Kurt's boyfriend; he's only seen them together a few times.

Now it's mid-March and basketball season is over so Finn's been getting kind of bored. Not that hanging out with Rachel isn't fun and all but sometimes Finn just misses going to practice after school and hanging out with guys. So when he finds out that Karofsky's been expelled and Kurt's transferring back, Finn's pretty pumped, even if Kurt seems kinda bummed.

It's Saturday and Rachel wants to go to a _flea market_. She says that spending the day together walking around will help cement their reunion or something. It's not that Finn doesn't want to spend all day alone with Rachel but 'flea market' just sounds so creepy and gross. When she explains what a flea market actually _is_ , it's even less cool than what he was picturing. So he recruits Kurt.

Kurt's doing that face wash routine when Finn comes down to his room and he just looks at Finn in the mirror. "Good morning."

"Morning," Finn says. "So what are you doing today?"

Kurt goes back to his lotion stuff and shrugs. "Blaine and I are meeting up, probably just hanging out here."

"Oh, cool," Finn sighs in relief. "So will you hang out with me and Rachel today on our date?"

Kurt blinks at him. "I can't. _Blaine and I are meeting up_ ," he repeats but this time he sounds kind of annoyed.

"Please?" Finn pleads. "We're going to a _flea market_ and we're going _all day_ and she said we can talk and I just know it'll be better if there's other people there."

Kurt laughs to himself. "Why are you going to a flea market?"

Finn shrugs. "She said I was stir-crazy and there was only room in our relationship for _her_ neuroses, whatever that means."

"Okay," he says slowly, still laughing. "Sorry but like I said, Blaine and are hanging out."

"Dude," Finn huffs. "Does he have something against flea markets or something? You haven't even asked him."

Kurt just eyes him warily. "What?"

Finn sighs and sits. "Why do you assume he's going to say no? He seems pretty laid-back."

He puts down his lotion and looks like he's thinking about something before he finally turns around to face Finn instead of staring at him in the mirror. "Are you asking if Blaine and I will go to the flea market with you and Rachel?"

"Yes," he answers, confused.

Kurt watches him. "Like a double date?"

Finn thinks about that for a moment, about how it's an _awesome_ idea. "Yeah," he says brightly. "A double date. Why didn't I think of that? Rachel totally can't be pissed if I call it a double date, right?"

Kurt shakes his head like he's kind of stunned about the whole situation and turns back around. "You're insane. You're using Blaine and I as a _buffer_ between you and your girlfriend. You don't find that odd?"

Finn frowns. "She's been really intense ever since we got back together. As soon as she relaxes, we'll be fine again. Probably."

"Hmm," Kurt says.

Finn's ready to accept defeat. "So that's a no?"

"Finn," he sighs. "Maybe it'll be romantic, just the two of you."

He gives Kurt a disgusted look because how can something called a _flea market_ be romantic? "Whatever, I'll just call Sam or Puck. They'll do it."

Kurt turns around slowly. "You didn't ask them yet?"

"No," he answers, standing and making his way to the steps. "I asked my _brother_ first." He grumbles his way up the stairs.

"Okay," Kurt calls from the basement. "We'll go."

Finn fist pumps.

:::

By lunchtime, Finn is almost regretting his decision. It's not like he'd rather have Sam or Puck there because he definitely wouldn't and it's not like hanging out with Kurt and Blaine isn't fun because it really is. It's just that after a few hours … Blaine is starting to make him _look bad._

They've been flirting since like, Blaine showed up. They're laughing and whispering and nudging each other and honestly, Finn just can't keep up. He watches the two of them pause by a table with some really, really creepy porcelain dolls and sees Blaine reach out to grab Kurt's hand. He's playing around with one of the dolls and he looks like he's feeling out for Kurt's hand without even realizing he's doing it.

 _Crap_ , Finn thinks, _I should totally be holding Rachel's hand_. He reaches down and grabs her hand with a smile. She beams back at him and pulls him a little closer.

And it pretty much goes like that for the rest of the day with Finn following Blaine's lead and it's sort of embarrassing. Blaine keeps telling Kurt how awesome he looks and Finn realizes he should definitely be telling Rachel how nice her hair is or compliment her clothes or something. Blaine's making weird lovey-dovey eyes at Kurt like, every time he glances at him and Kurt's making them right back. Finn knows that Blaine and Kurt are in the beginning of the relationship when that stuff always happens but he also knows that he and Rachel _just_ got back together so it's kind of like the beginning of a relationship and he should probably be flirting with his girlfriend a little bit more.

So yeah, Blaine's making him look bad but thankfully, no one seems to notice. Finn's taking dating tips from his step-brother's boyfriend and he's equal parts embarrassed and grateful.

They find a small snack bar around lunchtime and grab some nachos and fries. As they're sitting down at one of the picnic tables set up, Finn sees a booth selling corndogs and hell _yes_ , he needs a corndog in his life right now.

"I'll be right back," he tells the rest of them as he puts his nachos on the table. He walks the few feet it takes to get to the stand and stares at the menu board, trying to figure out if he wants one or two. He's tempted to say two but he _is_ dating a vegetarian and she never tries to steal any of his food so he decides he only needs one.

Finn looks up and sees the guy behind the counter giving him a funny look.

"Uh, one corndog," he says. The guy's still giving him a look so as an afterthought, he adds, "Please?" Because maybe this guy is a stickler for manners.

Instead of like, turning around and _getting him a corndog_ , the guy nods his head in the direction of the picnic table and asks, "Friends of yours?"

Finn turns around to see what this guy is talking about because all he wants to do is eat a damn corndog. He looks behind him to see Rachel gingerly picking out a tortilla chip smothered in nacho cheese. Across the table from her, Kurt's like, shoving a nacho into Blaine's mouth but he pretty much misses it completely and there's now processed cheese all around Blaine's chin and they're both kind of laughing and, _oh._

Every other table is empty and Rachel's eating which means she's not talking and being all high maintenance so Finn can only assume that this lame excuse for a carnie has some inexplicable problem with the two guys all up in each other's personal space.

Finn looks back at the guy behind the counter with a confused look. Kurt and Blaine aren't even _doing_ anything. It's not like they stole those nachos. It's not like they're running around naked setting fire to stuff. They're just sitting there. Laughing.

The guy is still waiting for a response. "Not friends," Finn tells him finally. "It's my _brother_ and his _boyfriend._ "

With that, he turns away and heads back to the table.

"No corndog?" Blaine asks when Finn sits across from him.

Finn shrugs. "They were all burnt." Which they totally weren't; they were like, golden perfection.

He never mentions it to Kurt, doesn't even tell Rachel. It's a good day and Finn wants everyone to remember it that way.

(Plus, he finds another corndog stand fifteen minutes later selling them for fifty cents cheaper and Finn figures that's some kind of sign.)

:::

_**There used to be nothing to share…** _

_"The point is, if you start giving up stuff like Friday night dinners then you got nothing to hold on to. Okay, let's face it, Kurt, if we don't schedule it then we don't hang out. If we don't hang out then our lives, they just go right by each other. And we don't share very much."_

_"I'm sorry but I'm not missing something that I look forward to all year just for another dinner. Maybe we could do it Thursday or something."_

_"I gotta tell you, Kurt, I'm real disappointed in you."_

That was then; this is now:

If he's really honest with himself, Burt Hummel had plenty of ideas about what his son's first boyfriend would be like: how he'd act, what he'd look like, how he'd inevitably change his kid and then take him away. He worries about Kurt dating the first kid that gives him some scraps of attention; God knows Kurt's starved enough to take what he can get. He worries that Kurt's going to make himself into something he's not because even if Kurt's _proud_ of the person he is, he wouldn't be the first teenager in the world to rearrange some things with the hopes of keeping someone around. But mostly, Burt worries about the place he'll have in his son's life when all is said and done and when this jackass, whoever he may be, comes in to Kurt's life and yanks him away.

Burt Hummel has all of these _ideas_ and Blaine … he just doesn't fit a single goddamn one.

It's the first Friday in May and it's just the two of them for their weekly Friday dinners. Kurt's humming something softly in the kitchen, something Burt doesn't even vaguely recognize. He's setting the table and Burt takes that as his cue to turn the TV off.

"Smells good," he tells Kurt as he sits.

"Roasted chicken breast with orange, cardamom and turmeric," he replies, smiling. He's goes back to humming.

Burt has no idea what the hell cardamom and turmeric are or even that they were actually in his kitchen at all but he shrugs and starts to eat.

"So what's new with you?" Burt starts. "How's school?" He reaches for the salt but Kurt's too quick for him and slaps his hand.

"Nice try," he says, grabbing the shaker and relocating it next to his own left hand. "And school's fine. Grades are still good."

Burt gives him an approving grunt. "Good."

"Actually," Kurt says with a thoughtful expression, "I'm about to overtake Blaine's GPA. I need an A on my French final but let's be honest, I could take it in my _sleep_ and ace it, Dad. So if I get an A, I'll officially have a higher grade point average."

Burt watches him for a minute. "You two have a grade race?" It seems odd and not something Kurt would have been competitive about oh, six months ago. Or however long it was that Blaine came into the picture.

"Sure," Kurt answers. "Why not? He says I have an unfair advantage because Dalton classes are harder but I've got three Honors classes so I figure it gives the McKinley curriculum an edge and balances out."

"Huh," Burt says. He takes a few more bites because he's not sure how to respond. He remembers his first high school girlfriend; everything about her seemed so much more important than Algebra homework and yeah, his grades slipped a little. He always figured that when Kurt got an actual boyfriend, school would seem like a hassle and would end up as one of those things that got pushed to the wayside to make more time for the relationship, for dates, for late night phone calls.

"We're going to the 'Shakespeare in the Park' by his house tomorrow night," Kurt says after a few minutes of silence. "Blaine says he's gone to the opening night performance every year since he was seven."

"That's nice," Burt says. "What's that, like a play?"

"Several plays," he answers. "It's like a Shakespeare medley. It sounds pretty amazing."

Burt nods. "So he asked you to go to opening night? Is it -- is that a big deal for you two?"

Kurt shakes his head. "Opening night's tonight. But no, it's not a big deal. His family's not going to be there or anything."

"It's tonight?" Burt asks, confused. "Did he want you to go?"

Kurt cuts up a few pieces of chicken. "No, he knew you and I were having dinner." He says it casually and it throws Burt off.

"Was he mad?"

"No," Kurt scoffs. "He knows how important these are. He'd never be mad about something like that."

They eat in silence for a few minutes and Burt thinks. This Blaine kid, he's nice enough, sure. But Burt can't figure him out. He remembers the girl he dated his senior year, how mad she'd get every time he'd hang out with his friends, every time he _chose_ his buddies over her, as she used to put it. He remembers lying to his parents about where he'd be and who he'd be with, remembers hiding _everything,_ even stupid things that didn't matter, just so he could feel like he was independent.

And now here he is having dinner with his kid who's offering up information left and right, his kid who's choosing Friday night dinners with his dad over a date with his very first boyfriend. And he's not even acting like a spoiled _teenager_ about it.

Burt clears his throat. "So what's Blaine doing next Friday?"

Kurt frowns. "I'm not sure. Why?"

He mulls over what he's about to say. He's not totally sold on the idea yet; God knows how stressful it was just having Carole over for _her_ first Friday family dinner. "Just thought you might want to invite him over," he says finally.

Kurt raises an eyebrow. "What about Friday dinner?"

He rolls his eyes. "Invite him _to_ Friday dinner, Kurt."

He freezes for a minutes but recovers quickly. "Oh," he whispers.

"Look, you don't have to but I'm just letting you know that you can. If you want."

Kurt gives him a small nod. "Okay."

They finish dinner and Kurt gives him a hug as they're putting their dishes in the sink. "Thanks, Dad," he tells him softly.

:::

Next Friday, it's Blaine setting the table. Burt's in the living room again, watching them out of the corner of his eye. They're laughing and talking quietly and for some reason, Burt's _nervous_. Carole and Finn are out at an impromptu dinner with her cousin and Burt wishes she was here; she'd say all the right things and put him at ease.

He knows the table setting is usually the cue to turn off the TV but he decides to give them a few extra moments alone. He watches Kurt join Blaine by the table to rearrange the silverware and give him a small smile as he stands close. Kurt nudges him with his shoulder and Burt watches and waits, though he's not sure for what. Maybe he's expecting for Blaine to pull away, put some space between them, look away, who knows. What Burt's not expecting is for Blaine to return the shy smile and mouth _I love you._

Burt looks away, ashamed for intruding.

After a minute, Kurt calls for him to join them. As he glances over the table and notices the extra effort Kurt put into everything, he clears his throat and says, "Looks great, kid. You really outdid yourself."

"Chicken Kiev," Kurt informs him proudly. "Low sodium."

"Well, it smells great. Looks even better."

"Blaine helped," Kurt starts to say.

"Liar," Blaine laughs. He looks towards Burt and gives him an apologetic smile. "I'm not very good in the kitchen."

"You helped!" Kurt argues. "You measured the pepper. And beat the eggs."

"After I dropped two of them!" he counters, still laughing.

Kurt gives him a good-natured shrug and an eye roll, ones Burt's been on the receiving side of plenty over the past several years. "Well, I appreciate it regardless. I think you're fine in the kitchen, if you'd just be a little more _patient_."

"I'm patient."

"No," Kurt scoffs. "You _think_ you're patient. You're really not. You get mad that you're not perfect at it immediately like you are with everything else."

Blaine shrugs and looks down at his plate. "Maybe," he says with a smile.

It goes on like this for the rest of the dinner and Burt's surprised to realize that he's not irritated or uncomfortable. He's just watching, _learning._

He heads back out to the living room to watch the baseball game and makes sure to turn the volume up in an effort to give them some privacy. They're doing dishes and Burt's vaguely aware that they sit down at the table when they're done but it's not until the seventh inning stretch that Burt realizes that they're still there. He assumed they would head down to Kurt's room or even meet up with some Kurt's friends but they don't: they're just sitting at the kitchen table, albeit very closely, staring down at something.

"No, see, if he gets three strikes, he loses his turn and it's called an 'out'," Blaine is explaining softly. "But if the pitcher, this guy here, if he throws four balls, then the batter, this one here, he gets to walk to first base."

"Like a freebie?"

"Exactly," Blaine answers. "Like a freebie."

"What's the point of these guys?" Kurt asks in a hushed voice.

"Outfielders," he answers, still whispering. "They catch the ball, or at least try to. Then they throw it back in to these guys, the infielders. If they get the ball to the base before the runner can get there, then he's out."

"And they've got three outs until their turn's up."

"Yeah," Blaine says softly and something in his voice makes Burt look over. Kurt's still got his eyes on the paper between them but Blaine's staring right at Kurt. He's got his head tilted and he's just looking. Burt's not sure what to make of it. It's not a condescending look, like maybe he's looking fondly at a child while he explains the rules of baseball. It's not a teenager-hormonal look either, like maybe he's thinking about Kurt in ways that would make Burt uncomfortable. And it's definitely not a friendly look, like he's appreciative for the free dinner and Friday night company.

It's none of those things. Burt contemplates Blaine's small smile as he watches Kurt unsuspectingly. It's like Blaine's _memorizing_ him.

He blinks and tries to watch the second half of the seventh inning.

When the game is over, he flips through a few channels, settles on ESPN. The boys are still in the kitchen, which Burt can't wrap his head around for the life of him.

They're softly laughing again, their backs to him. Burt glances over and sees Kurt press his leg up against Blaine's, who shifts it a few inches away. "Kurt, stop," he laughs, whispering. "Your dad is right there."

"I'm not doing anything," he replies, pushing himself close again.

He laughs again. "You're terrible. _Stop_."

Kurt groans softly. "You're so irritating."

"Oh really?" Blaine asks. "You do know that's there's probably a direct correlation between how much your dad likes me and how much time I get to spend with you, right?"

Burt looks back towards the TV.

"I never said my dad liked you," Kurt teases.

"I know," Blaine smiles. "But I'm hoping a Friday night dinner invite is a step in the right direction."

Burt turns the volume up higher. His kid's been waiting years to have private moments with a boyfriend; it's the least he can do.

An hour later, Blaine leaves to head home and Kurt comes to sit next to him on the couch. "You going to bed soon, Dad?"

Burt grunts. "I'll wait up for Carole."

Kurt hums a response.

After a few minutes, Burt turns to look at him. "No plans with your friends tonight?"

He shrugs and cocks his head, eyes on the TV. "We thought we'd stay in tonight," he answers casually.

"We?"

Kurt's still focused on the screen. "It's family dinner night. Blaine suggested hanging out up here because even if we're all doing our own thing, we're still together."

Burt mulls that over.

"And I thought it was actually a really good idea." Kurt gives his dad a worried look then. "It was okay, right? We weren't in your way up here? We weren't too loud?"

Burt swallows down the immense pride he has for his seventeen-year-old son.

There's a little over an hour drive between Blaine's house and his own and Burt knows they don't get see each other as much as they'd like to. And yet, here Kurt is, spending his Friday night with his boyfriend in his dad's _kitchen_ , his boyfriend that's not only on board with the plan but maybe _fueling_ it. He doesn't know how to articulate anything he's thinking.

"Of course not," he settles on. "Invite him over anytime."

And then it's two weeks later and Blaine's over again. After dinner, Finn immediately gets on his cell and takes a spot on the couch while Carole starts to do the dishes. Kurt and Blaine are seated at the table with a deck of Uno cards. Burt clears his throat and sits down across from them.

"Here," he says, pushing an envelope across the table.

Kurt gives him a quizzical look but pulls the envelope closer. "What's this?"

"Just something I thought maybe you'd like. You did real well in school this year, Kurt. So, uh, this is just an end of the year gift."

"Okay," Kurt says slowly. He opens the envelope and pulls out four Reds tickets. His eyes dart up to his dad's.

"I know Blaine was teaching you some things here but I'm sure it'd be much easier for him if you were actually in the stands, you know?"

Kurt's quiet. "Thanks, Dad."

Suddenly Burt's doubting himself. He thought it would be something nice they could do together but maybe he should have bought the tickets to the Ice Capades. "You don't have to go," Burt reassures him. "I just thought maybe you'd --"

"I want to go," Kurt cuts him off. "Thank you."

Burt rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "There's four, I thought Carole and I could go with you. And you could invite your boyfriend," he says, gesturing towards Blaine.

Blaine's watching Kurt with a smile. He doesn't look away, not even for a second.

"Thanks, Dad," Kurt says again.

Burt stands then. "Alright, well I'm gonna go watch the game with Finn, feel free to join us. Or you two can stay in here if you'd like."

He watches the game, just like he says, but he can't help but to look over to the kitchen every now and again.

"Hmm, he's kind of cute," Kurt's saying softly, pointing to a magazine between the two of them.

Blaine groans. "Please stop."

"He is," Kurt says. "In the whole anabolic-steroid, never-went-to-college sort of way."

"I'm serious, that's so not okay, Kurt."

"He looks good in his suit."

"Uniform," Blaine corrects with a smile. "And please stop."

Kurt laughs. "You don't like it when I talk about other boys that way?" he teases.

"I don't like it when you talk about _Yankee players_ that way. Anybody else, you can go to town."

They grin at each other and lean in close before they remember where they are.

Burt looks back to the TV.

This isn't anything like he thought it would be. Some of his worries, sure, they're panning out but not in the ways Burt thought they would. Kurt's changed because of Blaine, there's no denying it. His grades, his attitude, his mood, they're all different. And yeah, Kurt's definitely eating up the attention Blaine gives him but from where Burt's watching, it's attention Blaine's waiting to dish out.

Blaine's not taking his son from him, though, and Burt's still got a clear spot cut out in Kurt's life. He thinks of the family dinners and the baseball game and he realizes that Blaine is opening up doors to Kurt for him, doors Burt never would have been able to unlock on his own. Blaine's _giving_ this to him, not that he knows it.

Burt's not sure how to thank him for that. He hopes that for now, a Cincinnati Reds ticket will do.

:::

_**It used to be lonely in numbers…** _

_"Isn't this lesson about opposites? I mean, you in a sequined gown and a feather boa is … exactly what you'd expect."_

_"Okay, who said anything about a gown?"_

_"Uh, dude, why don't you make yourself useful and go put some rat poison in them old folk's Jell-O? Or visit the Garglers?"_

_"The Warblers."_

_"Whatever. See what they're up to. You can wear all the feathers you want; you'll blend right in."_

_"Fine."_

That was then; this is now:

Noah Puckerman really doesn't know too many gay dudes; for the first two years of high school he only knows the one. All kidding aside, though, he sometimes has his theories about Finn.

So he knows Kurt, who seems pretty decent for a gay kid. And then randomly, the new guy shows up and suddenly like, one sixth of the glee club is gay. In his head, Puck refers to the new kid as The Other Gay Kid because even though he doesn't dress like Kurt or push for Lady Gaga theme weeks, he's super obviously gay when he's around Kurt. He sort of moons over him and holds his hand during glee club and sits like, really close.

A couple months after he transfers, he sees The Other Gay Kid in the hall like, threatening one of the football players. Not with violence because the kid is something close to four foot two. (Although, really, he's not that much shorter than Kurt but Puck can totally tell he's self-conscious about it so he files it away to use against him at a later date.) Anyways, he's threatening him with something else, something about his grades and football eligibility, but he's doing it in this really soft-spoken kinda way, and it's actually pretty cool to watch because even though he's tiny and really calm and not scary in the slightest, the football player sort of backs away and throws the slushie in the nearest trashcan. The new kid finishes the whole speech off by saying something about leaving Kurt alone and honestly, Puck thinks it's pretty badass to defend his boyfriend like that, especially since Kurt's not even around to see it.

Honestly, Puck's pretty sure that The Other Gay Kid isn't going to tell Kurt about it anyway. Puck's heard them talking about it a few times. It'll start with Kurt bitching about how he's not a _girl_ that needs protection or whatever and then The Other Gay Kid will argue that it's not about that, it's about standing up for someone he cares about, blah blah blah. There's usually more to it but Puck stops listening because if it isn't about him, he loses interest fast. He's too self absorbed to care about most people's problems.

But from then on, he refers to him as Kurt's Girlfriend in his head.

Kurt's a pretty cool kid and Puck tries to watch out for him when he can. He's still gay and all so it's not like Puck's just going to randomly stop throwing that around but hey, Puck's a jackass to all his friends; it's sort of his thing. Like, Finn's his best friend and Puck still knocked up his girlfriend and yeah, he's pretty tight with Artie but it's not like he's going to pass up a chance to make a cripple joke if the opportunity arises.

So then another month after that, he and Kurt's Girlfriend are sitting next to each other in the choir room and for no reason at all, Puck decides to give him a hard time.

"So you're gay, huh?"

And the new kid just raises an eyebrow. "Sure."

"How's that working out for you? Swordfighting and Pride Parades and all that?"

Kurt's Girlfriend kind of gives him a smile and says, "Working out pretty well, actually. Call it swordfighting if you want but out of the two of us, who do you think has a better sex life? Hint: not you."

Puck says, "Whatever, I do fine." But he's smirking because no one's ever implied that they're having _more_ sex than he is and it's kind of a bad ass move since it might actually be true. Puck's a teenage boy so yeah, he knows how important sex is to a guy in high school. It's the girls that don't always seem to have that same crazy sex drive, the girls that need things like _flowers_ and _wine coolers_ and _a mattress_ to get in the mood. Puck thinks that maybe the gays are onto something: with two guys involved, they must be like _rabbits_.

So in his head he starts referring to the new kid as Blaine. And simultaneously stops thinking about gay sex.

:::

Puck throws a party a few months later. There's no particular reason for it but his mom's gone for a three day Bingo tournament so why the hell not? He said something to all of the football players after practice earlier in the week but when Friday rolls around Puck kind of realizes he never mentioned it to Kurt. Gay or not, he's part of the glee club so he deserves an invite. Plus, the gays and the Jews have a lot in common.

"Hey," he calls to Kurt as they're leaving the choir room.

Kurt turns to face him but then glances around. "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah," Puck says with a confused look. "Why do you look surprised? We talk all the time."

"No," Kurt replies, eyebrow arched. "We really don't."

Puck rolls his eyes. He so doesn't have time for this. "Okay, whatever, I don't care. I just wanted to make sure you knew about the party at my place."

Kurt watches him.

"It's tonight."

Kurt's still quiet.

"Like, maybe eight o'clock."

Kurt glances around the room again and quickly turns to make eye contact with Blaine, who's waiting out in the hall for him. "Is there a reason you're telling me this?" Kurt asks after awhile, meeting Puck's eyes.

"Oh, what? You're too good for a party at my house?"

Kurt's eyes crinkle in confusion. "Are you… _inviting_ me? Is that what this is?"

Puck rolls his eyes again. He didn't think it was going to be this big of a deal. "Show up, don't show up, whatever." He thinks for a minute. "I only have beer, though. I don't know what your people drink. White wine spritzers? Mimosas?"

He stares at Puck. "What?"

"Beverages," Pucks tells him slowly. "What kind do the gays like?"

"I -- I don't know. I don't drink."

Puck shrugs and heads towards the door. "Eight o'clock then. You can bring your boy."

He passes Blaine as he walks out and hears him ask Kurt, "What was that about?"

Kurt's quiet for awhile. "I think we were invited to a party. At Puck's."

"Huh," Blaine says. And then Puck stops listening and starts thinking about how many drunk cheerleaders there's gonna be in his living room in a few hours.

:::

As nine o'clock rolls around and then ten o'clock, Puck realizes that there really aren't that many drunk cheerleaders. There really aren't that many cheerleaders in general. As eleven o'clock and then midnight approaches, Puck realizes that yeah, it's pretty much only the glee club at his party.

He shrugs and heads into the kitchen for another beer. As he's throwing his can away and grabbing two more, he sees Kurt sitting out back texting on his phone. Puck turns around to see Blaine sitting in the living room playing Super Mario Brothers with Mike so he makes his way outside to Kurt and thinks that this is a sweet opportunity to see if Blaine's telling the truth or if Puck really is still the reigning sex god of glee club, which admittedly isn't hard to be when his competition is mostly Finn and _Artie_.

"What's up?" Puck asks as he sits in one of dingy plastic chairs on the cement slab that they call a back porch.

"What?" Kurt says, looking up from his phone.

"What are you doing out here?"

He shrugs. "Video games aren't really my thing." Puck notices he doesn't say it in that high-and-mighty voice that he usually uses with Puck. He just says it normal.

"Who're you texting?"

"Mercedes," he answers. "She's sick."

 _Oh yeah, Mercedes,_ Puck thinks. He thought there was someone missing.

"You want a beer?" Puck says in response, holding his second can out for him to grab.

Kurt looks at him for a minute but it's not that irritated look he's always giving Puck. "No thank you. Thanks to acute alcohol poisoning and a four hour ER visit, I think I learned my lesson with underage drinking. At least until college."

Puck shrugs. "Whatever, more for me."

Kurt glances at the boys in the living room through the sliding glass door but then looks away again.

There's probably something Puck should be asking about because the whole vibe is kind of awkward but instead, he just decides to break the silence. "So you guys probably do it all the time, don't you?"

Kurt's eyes get wide. "Wh -- what?" he sputters.

"You and Blaine," Puck clarifies.

He's still gaping at Puck.

"See, he tried to tell me you guys were like porn stars," he says, which yeah, really isn't that true at all but it's not like Kurt knows that.

"He talked to you about _sex_?" Kurt asks and he sounds totally scandalized.

Before Puck can answer, the glass doors slide open and Finn's lifting Artie's wheelchair over the rail.

"What are you guys talking about?" Finn asks as he takes a seat. The cement slab really isn't that big so the four of them are kind of crowded around each other in a circle.

"About Kurt and Blaine," Puck tells them. "And how much they do it."

"Ugh, what?" Finn groans. "I don't want to know about this."

Kurt's shaking his head in disbelief.

"Not because I have a problem with gay dudes," Finn's quick to say. "It's just… you're my brother and it's weird."

"No, no," Kurt responds. "I'm on your side on this one. I'd love for us to be _not_ talking about this right now."

Artie ignores Finn. "Is it like, a lot? I always wondered if you guys did it way more since, you know. You're both guys."

"Oh god," Kurt whispers, dropping his head into his hands.

They're all quiet for a second until the door slides open again and Sam walks outside with Mike. Puck looks towards the living room and sees the glee club girls all crowded around Blaine in various states of inebriation and undress. _The gays are so lucky,_ Puck thinks.

"So what's going on out here?" Sam asks, taking a seat on the cement.

"Nothing," Kurt answers quickly.

"Actually, we're talking about gay sex," Puck says.

Mike cocks his head in confusion but doesn't say anything. Sam blinks and says, "Uh, okay. Any particular reason?"

"I'm trying to prove a point," Puck explains.

"What point?" Kurt asks. "Because I'll prove whatever you want if you end this conversation."

He ignores Kurt. "I'm trying to see if I'm still the resident sex champ of glee club. Of the entire student body, really."

Kurt groans. "Is this what you guys do? Sit around and drink and talk about sex?"

Finn frowns. "And boobs."

"And porn."

"Sometimes girls."

"Okay," Kurt says, and Puck thinks he's starting to use that voice again, that I'm-so-much-better-than-you-people voice. "Those all pretty much fall under the conversational umbrella of 'sex'."

At that, Sam turns to Mike and starts talking about Quinn while Finn and Artie start talking about football. Puck realizes that he's lost control of this conversation.

"Don't think this is over," Puck promises Kurt as he leans in close. "We're talking about this."

Kurt looks at him like maybe he's _insane_ and says, "Fine, whatever. You're scaring me."

"Next Saturday is Mario Kart night at Sam's. Be there and be prepared to stop being such an uptight prude."

Kurt looks offended. "I'm not a prude. Talking about sex _all of the time_ just means you're crass and immature."

"Uh huh," Puck says, unconvinced. "And you can't say gay stuff like that during Guy's Night."

"Yeah, okay," Kurt says, almost annoyed.

"And no chicks," Puck adds.

Kurt raises an eyebrow. "Is Blaine the chick in this scenario?"

"Well yeah," he answers like maybe it's a stupid question. "You're my boy so anyone you date automatically becomes the chick."

Kurt blinks. "I -- I don't understand that logic at all."

They hear a small cough behind them and Puck sits back in his chair because yeah, leaning towards Kurt like that probably looked less intimidating than like, just plain old gay.

They turn to see Blaine standing there and watching them with an amused sort of confusion. "Everything okay here?"

"Yes," Kurt answers immediately.

"Kurt was just telling me about how much sex you guys have," Puck adds.

Blaine cocks an eyebrow.

"I wasn't," Kurt argues. "I wasn't doing that."

He stands up and grabs Blaine's hand. "Let's go inside."

Puck opens his second can of beer and eventually, they all start talking about boobs and porn and girls. He has to admit, it's definitely a lot more interesting than talking about gay sex.

:::

He goes back inside to the kitchen about a half hour later to grab a few more beers. He sees the girls all sitting on the couch watching some chick flick on HBO and he hears two hushed voices from the laundry room. Well, it's more of a glorified closet that his mom keeps the broken washer in but whatever. The lights are off so Puck can barely make out the shadows but Kurt's sitting on the washer, Blaine standing between his legs with his hands resting on Kurt's thighs. They're not like, doing anything and honestly, he's not about to judge them because Puck's had sex in a lot worse places than on a classmate's broken washing machine.

They're not having sex, though. They're just chilling there in the dark with quiet voices.

"Not to alarm you," he hears Blaine say, "but I think Puck was totally flirting with you."

Puck rolls his eyes because _whatever_. If Puck was flirting with him, Kurt would _know_ it. Puck would be _awesome_ at it. There's probably even a few Adam Lambert songs he could use because technically, gay Jews are still Jews.

Kurt scoffs. "Hardly. He was just inviting me to Guy's Night next week."

"Is that so?"

"Sure is."

"Well done you," Blaine says, laughing.

"You're not invited."

"Oh really?"

"Really," Kurt says. "Apparently you're a chick."

Blaine hums. "I thought the idea was that neither one of us is a chick."

Kurt shrugs.

"Well, is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Blaine asks. "I mean, it's tragic for _me_ because my boyfriend will be spending his Saturday night with five football players but is this good or bad for _you_?"

"I don't know," Kurt says quietly.

Blaine pauses for a minute. "You okay?"

Kurt doesn't answer right away and when he does, his voice comes out sounding sort of small. "It's weird," he starts, "but now that I'm dating you, I'm one of the guys."

"Huh," Blaine says. "Well if it's because of me, I don't know if I should say 'you're welcome' or if I should apologize."

They sit there in the dark for awhile staring at each other, and Puck starts to feel like a really creepy stalker. A creepy gay stalker. He grabs another can from the fridge and stops watching them.

"Well, let's wait until next week and then I'll tell you which one," Kurt teases.

On his way back outside, Puck glances at them, sees them rest their foreheads together.

After the dumpster tossings and the slushies and Karofsky, Puck figures that Kurt has more than earned a couple of minutes alone with his boyfriend. Just in case, he grabs some extra beer for everyone else in an effort to give Blaine and Kurt a few more minutes alone.

He'd deny it til he was dead but Puck kind of likes Blaine, even if he _has_ (allegedly) usurped his sex king throne. He's the second coolest gay kid Puck knows.

:::

**_When the game starts and one person's left out, it used to be me…_ **

"Dad, you have no idea what it's like! I am the only openly gay kid at school, in this town. I mean, why can't I walk hand in hand down the hall with a person that I like? Why can't I slow dance at my prom?"

"Come here. You think I don't want those things for you? I do. You know, until you find somebody as open and as brave as you, you're just gonna have to get used to going it alone."

That was then; he is now:

It's the little moments that Blaine likes best.

It's the little moments that he thinks about right as he's drifting off to sleep. It's those little moments that he remembers in class that distract him while he's taking a Physics test, the little moments he has when he sees Kurt across the hallway and he thinks, Oh, right, I'm totally dating Kurt Hummel. It's all those little moments he has when he thinks, I have a _boyfriend_ and all these moments are _ours._

It's those little moments like when they're standing a few inches from each other in the choir room, just staring and grinning. Mr. Schuester is trying to arrange the beginning choreography for their Regionals performance and it's pretty much taking forever.

"So okay, guys," Mr. Schuester says. "Listen up. I'm going to put you in your starting places. Rachel and Finn will be coming in from the back of the audience for their duet to join you. Mercedes, you'll be over here." He moves her to the front corner, away from the rest of the club. "Once Rachel and Finn have joined everyone else, the band will jump right into your solo."

He walks over to Quinn and Sam and starts giving them instructions. The rest of the club starts to talk amongst themselves.

"You ever miss the easy structure of the Warblers?" Kurt teases as he and Blaine stand beside each other.

Blaine shrugs. "Sometimes chaos can be fun."

Kurt laughs. "Your version of chaos is probably a little different from everyone else's."

"What does that mean?" Blaine asks, not sure if it's an insult or a compliment.

"It means that _this_ ," Kurt answers, waving his hand around for emphasis, "is chaos for you but for everyone else here, it's normalcy."

Blaine mulls that over. "Well, chaos or normalcy, I just like being a part of it."

Kurt grins at him and opens his mouth to say something but he's cut off by Mr. Schuester.

"Kurt," he says, grabbing him by the shoulders and physically relocating him a foot away. "You'll stand here."

He comes over to Blaine and does the same thing, pulls him by the shoulders so that he ends up facing his boyfriend, Blaine's face only _inches_ away from Kurt's.

"So this is where you'll be for the beginning of the number," Mr. Schuester instructs the two of them. "Rachel and Finn will join everyone and then we'll jump into the Mercedes solo. We're going to start the number with everyone facing their partner but when she starts singing, we'll do a one-by-one turn to face the crowd."

Blaine nods his agreement but Kurt looks a little dazed. "Wait, so Blaine's my partner for this number?"

"Yes," Mr. Schuester answers distractedly. Blaine follows his gaze and sees Puck and Sam playing with a lighter. Whatever happens, Blaine's putting his money on the lighter.

"Like, my dance partner?" Kurt clarifies.

Mr. Schuester finally looks at Kurt then. "Is that okay? I mean, I just thought --"

"It's fine," Kurt answers, cutting him off. "I was just checking."

"Okay," Mr. Schuester says a little hesitantly. "If you're sure."

Kurt gives him a small smile and that seems to be enough for their teacher, who heads back towards the front of the classroom.

"You okay?" Blaine asks.

Kurt's still smiling. "I have a dance partner."

"Right," Blaine says slowly. "Isn't that customary?"

They're already standing face-to-face but Kurt takes another step closer. "I have a dance _partner_ ," Kurt repeats, looking over Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine gives him a confused look then turns to see what Kurt's looking it. He sees Puck and Santana on the far left, Sam and Quinn next to them, Mike and Tina towards the center of the room, and then Rachel and Finn. Blaine looks over Kurt's shoulder to see Brittany and Artie and suddenly Blaine _gets it._

"So he just pairs everyone up like that?" Blaine realizes.

"Yeah," Kurt says, looking at Blaine like he's the best thing in the world.

"You never found that annoying?"

"Not anymore I don't," Kurt admits, grinning.

Blaine smiles back at him and they just stand like that, inches away from each other, ready to learn the choreography that they're going to dance _together_ on stage _in front of people_.

It's a good moment.

:::

It's those little moments like when they're at the mall, just a regular high school couple like any other high school couple. Blaine gets a text from Kurt: _in the food court with Tina whenever you're done_ , so he and Mike make their way out of the RadioShack and head over to meet them.

When they get there, Blaine spots Tina and Kurt sitting across from each other in one of the rubbery food court booths. They're talking very animatedly about something and just watching Kurt talk brings a smile to Blaine's face, as lame as that is.

Mike sits next to Tina and she immediately begins telling him the story she was undoubtedly just discussing with Kurt. Blaine takes a seat next to Kurt and slides an Orange Julius drink across to him.

"What's this?" he asks with a puzzled expression.

"It's orange," Blaine answers. "I know it's not organic or unrefined or anything but it's low fat and really high in vitamin-C so I thought maybe you'd give it a shot."

Truth is, there's not a lot of mall food that Kurt will actually _eat_. He's picky about what kind of foods he'll let into his body, which Blaine can completely appreciate, but Blaine figures that this is mostly fruit and ice so it can't be all that bad.

Kurt's still eyeing the cup like he's not sure what to do with it.

For a second, Blaine kind of feels like an idiot. He had stared at the menu for practically ten minutes trying to figure out which would be best for someone as health conscious as Kurt. He had even made Mike Google the nutritional facts; Mike had given him a blank look but he was a good sport and did it anyway.

So yeah, he kind of feels stupid and he's glad Mike and Tina are too wrapped up in their own conversation to see the awkward look on Blaine's face. "You don't have to try it if you don't want to," Blaine says finally, trying to keep his tone light. He reaches for the cup but Kurt grabs it and pulls it closer to him before Blaine can reach it.

"It's not that," Kurt says quietly. He wraps his hands around the base of the cup tightly.

Blaine watches him and it kind of clicks. Kurt doesn't know how to accept something as small and inconsequential as a _food court beverage_ because no one's ever bought him something small and inconsequential before.

"It was nice of you," Kurt says. "You didn't have to do that."

"Try it," Blaine tells him. "You might not even like it."

Kurt takes a sip and smiles. "It's the best drink I've ever had." He nudges it towards Blaine as an offering.

Blaine takes a couple of sips and yeah, it's pretty good but it's definitely not the best ever.

When they leave the mall twenty minutes later, Kurt's still clutching the cup protectively and taking a sip every few minutes. He grins after every drink and Blaine just watches him with a smile.

It's a good moment.

:::

It's those little moments like when Kurt's silently mocking someone (or sometimes not-so-silently mocking someone) and then he turns to Blaine and looks at him like he _means_ something. They're sitting in the lunchroom and Kurt's rolled his eyes like, twelve times in ten minutes. Artie's been talking about his inevitable rapping career and potential stage name ( _DJ Jazzy Wheels_ is Blaine's personal favorite so far), Tina's been going on about the Hot Topic buy-one-get-one sale, and Finn has an entire conversation about his top ten favorite fair foods (Elephant Ears and Fried Oreos tying for the number one spot). Kurt spends almost the entire time watching them with wide eyes or scrunching his nose up in disgust. Blaine spends almost the entire time watching Kurt.

A few minutes before the bell rings the rest of them get up to return their lunch trays, leaving Blaine and Kurt alone.

"You're more of a snob than I am, Kurt," Blaine says on a laugh, "and I'm a rich kid that went to an all-boys boarding school."

"You're not a snob."

Blaine laughs again. "Exactly."

"Whatever," Kurt says with a shrug. "Just because my friends have no taste doesn't make me a snob. It just makes them _common_." He's trying not to laugh, though, so Blaine can tell he's mostly kidding. He thinks.

Then Kurt looks over at him and there's so much in his eyes. Every time Kurt looks at him, every single time, Blaine feels important. It's not like Blaine has terrible self-esteem or an image problem or whatever, but he's never been able to quite figure out what Kurt sees in him. Blaine's just a regular guy so what is it about him that makes Kurt treat him so differently than he treats everyone else? There's no condescension or haughtiness and there are none of those walls around himself that Kurt puts so much effort into building.

"I'm glad I met you before," Blaine says out of nowhere.

Kurt looks away and down to the French homework he's working on. "Before what?"

"Before you met anyone else," he answers quietly. He knows he's lucky to be the first gay kid Kurt ever met. He doesn't usually like to think of what the other options could have been. "Just imagine if you met some other gay choir kid before me. Where would that have left us?" He keeps his voice light.

Kurt shrugs, still not looking up from his homework. "Guess I'd still be waiting to meet you."

He says it like it's nothing, like it's just common sense.

It's a good moment.

:::

It's those little moments like when they're talking about prom.

"So what do you mean by 'I don't care'?" Kurt asks him, sounding annoyed.

"You're mad, don't be mad," Blaine says. "I'm only saying I'm not partial to the either color so you should pick."

They're sitting alone in the Hummel living room and until about two minutes ago, everything was fine. Blaine has his back against the armrest of the couch with Kurt resting comfortably in between Blaine's splayed legs. "How can you not be partial?" Kurt presses. "It'll be part of our prom photo. I'll have to see those pictures _forever_."

Blaine sighs. "I know, and I trust you to pick the best colors."

He's silent but Blaine can tell it's not the peaceful kind of silence; Kurt's isn't mad yet but he's well on his way there.

After awhile, Kurt shifts like he's going to get up but Blaine wraps his arm around Kurt's waist. "Don't. We only have like, twenty minutes until your family gets home."

Kurt doesn't struggle against him, just settles back down, albeit grudgingly.

"It's kind of a big deal," Kurt tells him after a few minutes of silence. "I want it to be a big deal for you, too."

Blaine lets out a soft sigh and rests his chin on Kurt's shoulder. "It _is_ a big deal," he agrees. "It's just -- do you remember that time we went to the dollar theater down in Columbus?"

"Yeah," he says, confused.

"And do you remember how you thought both movies sounded incredibly lame so you told me to pick?"

"Oh my god, are you still going on about that? It seriously isn't that big of a deal, Blaine. Those movies were _terrible_ and I honestly couldn't have cared less which you chose."

"Exactly," Blaine says softly.

Kurt pauses. "Okay, you're saying that the colors I like are lame and terrible so you're letting me pick?"

Blaine laughs. "No."

Kurt sighs.

"I'm saying that you didn't care about what movie we saw."

"I didn't," Kurt agrees. "I knew we were going to make out in the back of the theater regardless of which movie we saw."

Blaine smiles because yeah, that's totally what happened.

"So what I'm telling you, Kurt, is that I genuinely don't care about what color cummerbund I wear. I don't care about what color boutonniere we agree on. I don't even care if we match. But none of that means that it's not a big deal for me."

"Okay," Kurt concedes.

"It's a huge deal for me. I have a _date_ to my prom."

Blaine settles back into the couch and pulls Kurt with him. They sit like that for a few minutes.

"I'm looking forward to prom more than you know, Kurt. We get to slow dance together and ride in a limo with our friends and eat terrible catered food next to each other. We get to be just like everyone else."

"Except better," Kurt scoffs.

Blaine laughs softly and says, "Naturally. Because my boyfriend's going to make sure we look more amazing than everyone else combined."

"That's true," he agrees. "I will."

"I just want to be there with you," Blaine tells him quietly. "The rest are details."

So a month later when they're slow dancing in their tuxes, Kurt clings to Blaine tightly. "I never thought I'd get this," he whispers in Blaine's ear.

"I know," Blaine whispers back.

"You've changed everything," Kurt says.

Blaine's not entirely sure how true that is but it's what he wants to keep doing. He wants to keep changing Kurt's life, wants to keep giving Kurt everything he always wanted.


End file.
